1997 November 17

Full moon, 0 degrees, no wind.

The roads were piled up with snow at the sides but the pedestrian side-walks were carpeted with a white film. The whole day I'd been feeling rather energetic while P. was in a humorous mood, possibly because his demo was almost finished.

By the time we went out, I was very sleepy and planned to stay only for a short while expecting little pleasure. But I was wrong.

The line-up at the entrance of Industry was surprisingly short and there was not that many people inside, which was good enough for me. Dimitri of Amsterdam wasn't too impressive at first - some progressive house with a touch of vocal house here or there, but later on, it got better. He was quite experimental, using more rhythm than base and he avoided some mixing or deejaying cliches which sometimes made dancing a bit difficult. At one point I felt like he refused to bring us to the climax and just let the build-up drop.

Ien, who we hadn't seen for a long time tapped on my shoulder. We hugged and he told me he had a wonderful party last Sat. Real glad to see someone so excited by anything of the like. Alx, in a smart suit and well-combed hair, with his beautiful African-Canadian partner, looked at me and smiled. I didn't recognize him at first.

Among the crowd was a Sikh Indian wearing a turban dancing away. A John Lennon look-a-like and some old ravers. What really moved me was a guy in a wheel-chair dancing by maneuvering his wheelchair. This is the way things should be in clubs. At around five, when I could no longer manage to dance, I sat at the back of the dance floor looking towards the stage. Dimitri played some deep drums which brought to my mind this image of ten thousand tribal drummers in the African desert strumming and stomping while the people on the dance floor became voodooed. One hip-hop girl break-danced like she was wired and charged. The word "underworld" immediately came to my mind. The bass drum was so deep that it seemed like the whole population there that night was one big family in the Underworld. The silhouettes of people were like that of a Chinese traditional watercolour picture where the mountains closest were darkest in colour with the next layer of mountains in between while the lightest layer were the furthest in the background. I also thought of the paper-cut scene in Martin Scorcese's Vampire when the movie related the history of the Turkish Empire while Count Dracula of Transylvannia was the King killing the enemies and piercing the corpses in spears stuck up from the ground.

It was a very powerful sight . It completely swept me off my feet and blew my mind. It was extremely amazing that all these people could be so united or connected by some sounds, some rhythm. The scene made me instantly positive about the future of humanity, the fact that there was, in existence, a common language or feeling that could link so many people (albeit only those in the club that night) was an exhilarating thought.

While P. & I were resting/ standing by the tables near the bar, some people around us who were standing around chatting were suddenly "charged" by the rhythm or the beat and all of us moved. Nights like these heighten your senses. The next day, both P. & I are especially sensitive to soft music. Beth Orton's voice made me cry.